


Hope

by xXxBishopxXx



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: 5 men vs a baby, Carlos does not fair much better, Crack, Diapers, Fluff, Mikhail to the rescue, Murphy wants to cuddle the child, Nikolai does not know what a tiny human is, Tyrell doesn't have time for this, clueless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:55:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24307033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xXxBishopxXx/pseuds/xXxBishopxXx
Summary: After being dropped into a freak infested city, neither Nikolai or Carlos knew what to expect when they set out to search for survivors. Moving through an apartment complex - they soon hear a loud noise which leads them to find a shocking discovery...
Comments: 3
Kudos: 14





	Hope

**Author's Note:**

> All mistakes are on me - I'm not a professional writer and nor do I wish to be one. I'm too lazy for that.

“…What…What is it?” The Russian asked, standing an inch behind Carlos, calculating eyes unable to come up with a logical answer as to what the hell was making _that_ sort of noise. It could only be described as a loud, ungodly shrieking of a creature no being could control or deal with. Even being this close, using his fellow solider as a sound barrier, -which was doing little good- made him feel a migraine coming on.

How Carlos could stand without so much as wincing at the unbearable wailing was beyond Nikolai. He didn’t compliment often, or at all, but he had a surge of respect for the younger man standing in front of him for not reacting to that _god-awful_ noise that was penetrating their ears.

Nikolai had previously no intention of moving forwards towards the beast that was creating the racket that could no doubt be heard from miles, however he did not like to be seen as a weak link to any of those on the platoon, so as Carlos moved towards it – he took very cautious steps in the same direction.

Whatever it was, it was behind wooden bars of some kind, like a prison – Nikolai did not blame whoever had captured it and left it there to rot from how it sounded and smelled – Umbrella must have made a bioweapon that had been an utter fail.

The closer they got the worse smell it made. Perhaps that was its defence mechanism? That and the added screaming would be enough to make anyone run, he supposed, maybe it wasn’t such a fail like he had first assumed.

Nikolai stopped a few feet away, watching as Carlos continued until he was standing by the bottom of the miniature prison with no roof or lid to stop the thunderous beast from escaping.

The man was a fool! How could he dare get that close? They had just been airdropped into Raccoon City, surrounded by brainless freaks, and he had the balls to peer over at the beast?!

The Russian half expected Carlos’ face to be torn off; having never seen a bioweapon from Umbrella in action before, it was safe to say it was putting him on edge. He had to admit, he was not a fan of the idea of seeing one this up close.

If Carlos wanted to be consumed by it then he was more than welcome, but Nikolai would have liked more room in the tight apartment space they had been searching for survivors in to roll out of the way – run if he had to.

He had learned early on in his career that there was a fine line between being cowardly and being smart. Plus, there was too much at stake here for him to be killed by a smelly, wailing…thing.

Carlos finally peered over into the makeshift prison.

Nikolai waited for the end of his comrade, hand gripping tighter onto his pistol, knife at the ready. Yet nothing but a solid intense staring came from the younger whose eyes widened.

How terrifyingly ugly could the beast be to make Carlos of all people look shocked after what they had already seen since arriving in RC.

“Um, Nikolai…?”

With building curiosity and an eager wave motioning for the Russian to move forwards by Carlos, the silver wolf braced himself for the worst, wondering over a little too cautiously. He peeked over, and what was there made him gasp lightly.

It was…tiny. It wiggled as it wailed loudly, eyes squeezed shut, little fingers curled up into fists as it kicked and screamed out. It almost looked human. Almost. Its flesh was a shade of pale pink, red forming around its cheeks and chest no doubt from the thrashing and ruckus it was making.

The incredibly small…thing, must have sensed the two men’s presence as its wailing slowed, scrunched up eyes opening sluggishly as wide green orbs stared between them – it made a small hiccup and gurgle of some sort.

Nikolai could not lie to himself – it didn’t look like it could hurt a fly now that it stopped its high-pitched complaining. Though the heavy odour was something he didn’t think he would be able to live with for long. Never in all his days had he met something that was so tiny yet powerful when it came to its stench.

The UBCS members glanced at one another – silently asking what the hell they were supposed to do with such a creature.

Feeling more at ease, Nikolai placed his pistol back in its holder and put his knife safely away for the mean time. He gripped the railing of the prison. “What is it?”

Carlos blinked at the man. “Are you serious, Nikolai?”

The Russian glanced back at the younger, who must have seen the slight confusion on his face and pitied him enough to answer.

“It’s a baby, Nikolai. You know, a tiny human?”

Clear eyes met misty green as the…baby, stared back up at Nikolai. It was so…small. It looked weak. There was no way it was going to survive.

“Well, what do we do with it?” Nikolai snapped his eyes away from the gurgling form beneath them.

“Funny, I was about to ask you the same question…” Carlos trailed off, he looked around. “It’s not safe here, we should take the kid back to the train station.”

Nikolai scoffed. “No. It will draw all of those freaks to us if it starts wailing again. It is weak, anyone who cannot defend themselves will end up dead out here – we should leave it behind.”

Carlos looked utterly appalled at the mere suggestion. “We are not leaving a baby to defend for themselves Nikolai.”

The Russian wanted to point out that it had been doing a good job so far as out of the entirety of the apartment complex – it was the only thing left living. Hm, maybe it was not so weak after all. It did, however, look frail, almost as if a sudden movement could break it.

It was in that very moment that a squirting noise erupted from the tiny form’s lower half, and a smell that was simply indescribable emerged into the air – making both men gag and turn away.

Carlos headed for the nearest window, pushing it open as wide as he could get it, sticking his head out to claim the fresh air.

Nikolai refused to breathe through his nose as it burned his senses, he muffled a gag reflex, waving a hand in front of his face to try and ease the smell from his direction.

“Captain!” Carlos called through the radio piece in his ear. “Mikhail – we have a situation.”

_“Carlos, Nikolai – are you alright?”_ The man came through their linked radio. _“Do you need back up?”_

Nikolai wanted to chime in with a _‘yes’,_ but as he opened his mouth to talk, he ended up gagging again. The tiny thing could be used a lethal weapon in the right circumstances.

“No,” Carlos breathed. “We, um…we found a baby.”

_“…A baby?”_

The younger nodded his head even though he knew the captain couldn’t see him. “Yeah, no sign of the infection, I wanted your permission to bring the baby back to the station.” He wheezed out.

“Not smelling like that,” Nikolai countered. “It stinks!”

Mikhail mumbled something over the frequency that neither man understood until he spoke up again. _“Have you changed the baby’s diaper?”_

“No-”

“What is diaper?” Nikolai had a thick accent, and the more flustered he got the more broken his English became.

A heavy sigh was heard. _“Listen carefully; Look at the baby, they should have a diaper around them. Nikolai – look around and find something that seems the same. Carlos, go and take the current one off and throw it away.”_

With orders given, both men sprang into action. The apartment they had entered to investigate the wailing noise had been relatively clean, but as Nikolai threw anything and everything that did not resemble what the captain called a diaper, it began to look like a horde of animals had stampeded through.

Carlos held his breathe as Mikhail talked him through the process of removing a diaper, which was disposed of by being flung out the open window like a grenade – he was fairly certain it had hit a zombie on the head from the thud that came from down below.

Nikolai grasped the prize, raising himself from where he had been rummaging through a cupboard, finding his way back over to the baby – he was pleased that its awful scent had marginally declined. He held out the thick material for his fellow UBCS associate to take, Carlos nodded a thanks as he took hold of the fabric to cover the baby with.

“I’ve got the diaper, Captain, now what?”

_“Like taking it off, Carlos, just in reverse.”_

“Okay…” Carlos trailed off and he attempted to put the diaper on.

Nikolai watched with amusement as the tiny being fought the solider off, no matter how he tried to place the diaper on, it would wiggle, kick and punch at him. He was impressed at its fighting spirit.

“She’s moving too much, Mikhail – I can’t get it on.” After a few more minutes of pointless struggling Carlos gave up, pleading looks at the smirking Russian who stood beside him did him no favours.

_“Nikolai,”_ Mikhail, at last, addressed his comrade. _“You need to distract her.”_

Scoffing, the silver wolf shrugged. “And how am I supposed to do that?” He had a grenade in his pocket, but he did not think it would be a wise idea to let the little beast play with such a thing – he didn’t fancy it pulling the pin and blowing them all up.

_“Are there no toys for her to play with?”_

Nikolai glanced around, if there had been any toys then he had lost them in his frantic search for a clean diaper. “No.”

_“Then you’re going to have to play with her.”_

“I am going to have to do what?”

_“Just twiddle your fingers in front of her – Carlos only needs a small distraction.”_

Not liking the idea one bit, Nikolai slowly reached down with one hand, happy green eyes following his every move – right up until he poked her in the face and withdrew his limb. In return the baby began to cry once again.

“Oh, nice going Nikolai.” Carlos grumbled. “Why did you poke her?”

_“You poked a baby?”_

“You wanted a distraction.”

“Yeah,” Carlos bit back sarcastically. “A distraction to put the diaper on, which I still haven’t been able to do – all you did was make her cry.”

“You should have moved faster.” Nikolai countered.

_“Focus, both of you.”_ Mikhail cut through the bickering men. _“Nikolai, no poking the baby. Carlos, be ready to move.”_

With a disapproving scowl on his face, Nikolai stretched his hand down to the weeping being, soon she focused on him once again. Her little fingers wrapping around one of his, pulling and pushing on it – a giggle breaking out of her lips and he moved his other fingers to capture her attention.

Carlos seemed stunned at watching the older man participate and not just poke the girl once more. Shaking himself out of his trance, he continued with his mission. It wasn’t long before he looked over his work victoriously.

“Right, Captain, we’re done – we’ll be heading back to the station shortly.”

As soon as Carlos said that, Nikolai tried to remove his hand from the youngling, however, much to his dismay – the baby held tightly onto his finger and began to rise with him. He shook his hand gently – she shook with him – making gurgled noises with each movement.

Up. Down. Up. Down. The baby continued to cling to his fingers. Using his other hand, he tried to free himself from her grip, only for the wee form to capture that one too. He felt like shaking her off as hard as he could, but he didn’t think the fragile being would survive that – not that he cared, of course.

“What do I do with it now?” Nikolai asked, looking for some sort of guidance from the younger male.

Carlos tried his hardest to hold back a smile, but part of it broke out over his features. “You, um, you’ll have to pick her up and carry her.”

Nikolai’s head shot up. “I am not carrying this thing.”

“A baby isn’t a _thing_ , Nikolai.” Carlos rolled his eyes. “Look, one of us will have to keep an eye out for the zombies while the other carries her. You can keep her warm in your vest while I guard us.”

“If you care so much about it, then you carry it.”

Carlos looked far too smug for Nikolai’s liking. “No can do. I use a two-handed weapon, remember.” He lifted his gun as if to add to his point. Next showing his armour. Whereas Nikolai’s was zipped, his was buckled – the only logical one to carry the baby was the Russian.

Lifting her, he kept her at an arms distance, her lower half swaying from lack of support as they stared at each other. “You soil my vest and it will be the last thing you do,” Nikolai warned. He had no intention of giving the baby any comfort, but perhaps keeping her warm would keep her quiet too.

It took a lot longer than it should have to get the baby inside his jacket, she would not relent in her death grip on him, and he point blank refused any aid from Carlos. Thankfully, the creature allowed him one hand free, the other holding her in place as he slipped her inside his vest – zipping it up until it held the being snuggly.

The baby cooed, rubbing herself against Nikolai’s chest, like an animal burying themselves into a warm nest. She had been cold. He wondered if that was why she had been crying so much earlier – missing the touch of her parents…wherever they had ended up, if, and that was a big if, they were still alive.

He doubted it. The silver wolf could only assume that they had gone to find help, but never managed to return.

Shaking his head, Nikolai refused to think such thoughts. He did not care about this child or what fate befell her parents.

The journey back to the station was, in Nikolai’s opinion, tedious. And the freaks were the least of his concerns. Carlos had made it a mandatory thing to check on the sleeping beast that lay within his vest every minute or so, making sure Nikolai was holding her and not going to let her slip through. It was annoying, and he was half tempted to yeet the child and watch Carlos run and try to catch her.

Yet he did not do such an act. Even though he was confident it would greatly amuse him. Instead, he took mental notes of how Carlos continually told him to cradle the babes head, he would not admit it, but he was listening – he was learning.

When they finally arrived at the station, Nikolai was suddenly surrounded by other UBCS members, they flocked uncomfortably close to him as they tried to get a peek at the child he was holding. Apparently, they did not care about the Russian’s personal space. So, he did not care when he growled – a sign for them to back away – which most did.

Murphy did not pay any mind, however, and kept trying to make cooing noises at the babe, not realising how close to death he was becoming until Tyrell yanked him away.

“What the hell are we supposed to do with a baby?” Tyrell spoke up first. He looked around the small group of men. “We’re not exactly babysitters.”

At least someone saw sense, Nikolai mused. The baby began to stir awake against him, making a noise that made Murphy’s eyes light up.

“Awwww; when do I get to hold her?” He looked towards the captain.

Carlos chuckled from where he stood beside Mikhail. “I don’t think she has any intention of letting go of her friend there.”

“We are not friends.” Nikolai corrected. It was then the silver wolf felt what the baby was doing as its head ducked under his vest, his cheeks flushed as he all but yanked the child away from him – zip ripping apart but not breaking. “Get this thing away from me!” He ordered.

Murphy went to take her, but Carlos got there first, having to pry her tiny hands away from older males. “What’s the matter-” he cut himself off as he noticed what had caused the man’s reaction to the child.

Nikolai’s grey, tight top, now exposed due to the zip of his vest being undone, was covered in a patch of drool from where the baby had tried to suckle on his-

“She must be hungry,” Mikhail laughed whole heartedly, much to Nikolai’s displeasure as he rubbed at the slobber on his chest.

“Well she will get nothing from me.” He grumbled. Still red faced, he sat on a large container, not caring as the baby flailed its arms at him. She wept. He did not care. Too flustered to pay attention to the creature who had tried to treat him like it would its mother.

“Does she have a name?” Tyrell pipped up as it was safe to look over the baby now that it did not have a growling Nikolai attached to it.

“Um…” Carlos and Nikolai glanced at each other, the Russian shrugging, neither could recall seeing anything in the apartment that would point to a name. “Maybe we should name her?”

Ugh. The fools. They were going to get attached to the damn baby, of all things. Nikolai rolled his eyes. He would take no part in this.

“I vote Murphy,” Murphy declared proudly.

“No!” The other four men snapped.

“She does not look like a Murphy,” Nikolai mumbled.

“Our comrade is right; she is no Murphy. Plus finding a name to suit her will take time.” Mikhail answered as he took the baby from Carlos, he then ordered his men to go out to find formula for the wee human he held in his arms. A distance echo of them arguing over names could be heard as it left the two Russians alone in the station where they were held up.

It wasn’t until the baby was fast asleep did Mikhail place her in Nikolai’s arm, sitting next to him, before the younger Russian could reject or complain – the captain of the platoon spoke.

“Do you know what babies bring into the world, comrade?”

Not knowing, or fully understanding what the man was on about, Nikolai stayed quiet – watching as the elders’ eyes sparkled with an emotion he did not know.

“They light the way through the darkest of times, they give humanity the chance for redemption no matter how rotten we become, they even unify us to be stronger and overcome our worst fears. They bring us hope.”

_…Hope…_

Nikolai looked down at the girl in his arms. She had a stupid grin on her little face, but it was not ugly, not cute, but not ugly by any means he pondered.

There was a gentle squeeze on his shoulder as Mikhail left to check on the area, leaving the silver wolf and the babe alone.

“Hope…” He spoke softly, letting the name dance off his tongue. Yes, he liked that.

Contemplating his thoughts, Nikolai allowed the baby to burrow into him, head pressing into his neck. It was something they all needed, he supposed, even as people across the globe willed the world around them to burn. Not one damn thing could be done without –

Hope.

**Author's Note:**

> Que Mikhail fist bumping the air at the fact he so got to name that baby. 
> 
> This story is based off true events when I, and my bothers, had to take care of a baby...Yes, I am ashamed to admit that I was the one who poked the baby and made her cry ._.


End file.
